The DARVO Tactic — When You Become the Villain

You confront someone about their behavior. You've prepared what you want to say — you've thought it through, you've waited for the right moment, you've chosen your words carefully. And then, within thirty seconds, something strange has happened: you are apologizing. Not for how you said it — for raising it at all. For having the reaction you had. For causing the discomfort of the conversation itself. The person you confronted is now, somehow, the wounded party. You walked into the conversation as someone who had been wronged. You walked out as the person who committed a wrong.